


Day Changes

by lexa1204



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Abusive John Winchester, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Baby Sam Winchester, Castiel is young, Daddy Dean, Dean is NOT underage, Fix-It of Sorts, John Winchester's A+ Parenting, M/M, Protective Castiel, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Student Dean, Teacher Castiel, Teacher-Student Relationship, still hunters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-22
Updated: 2017-11-18
Packaged: 2018-12-18 12:02:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 20,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11873970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lexa1204/pseuds/lexa1204
Summary: During adolescence, you wake up one morning and find your soul mate's initials tattooed on your wrist. Then when you finally meet, the first time you touch, your soul mate can see into your life. They see all of your memories. Dean's problem is that he has a lot of memories he would like to keep a secret. And when he sees the initials DW on his English teacher, that's when he knows trouble is coming.The Teacher-Student soulmate AU nobody wanted. Sam is five years old and Dean is left to raise him after his abusive, alcoholic father kicks them out.





	1. Chapter 1

Dean grabbed Sam’s school bag and turned around to get him an apple juice. Sam was sitting on his booster chair at the table, happily eating his breakfast talking about some friend named Lucy. Dean hummed in acknowledgement, prompting Sam to continue babbling.

Dean tried to salvage something for his breakfast, but he couldn’t. He only had enough for Sam’s dinner tonight, and maybe if he got lucky, a little bit for himself. He would just have to eat a lot at school today. Maybe steal an apple. 

“Daddy,” Dean turned to him, shaking off his hunger, giving him his full attention. “What are the letters on your wrist? My teacher has them too.” Dean smiled softly, knowing this day would come eventually. He would be lying if he said he hadn’t prepared for it. 

“Well, Sammy, they’re my soulmate’s initials. CN. You’ll get them one day, too. I think I got mine when I was ten.” 

“What’s initials?” Sam asked, and Dean pursed his lips. “Well, they’re your first name and last name. Yours are SW and mine are DW. Understand?” Sam nodded enthusiastically.

“So your soulmate’s name could be Cookie Monster?” Dean stopped to think for a second, almost laughing.

“My letter’s are C and N, bud. Monster starts with M.” Sam gave him a pensive look and then finally came to his epiphany. “Cookie Nonster?”

Dean threw his head back and laughed. “Yeah, I sure hope my soulmate’s name is Cookie Nonster. That would be fun. Now let’s get your bag all packed up so we can go get you to school.” 

Sam started kindergarten this year and Dean was so relieved that he didn’t have to pay for daycare anymore. It also gave Sam the chance to meet so many more kids and to be mentally stimulated, which Dean suspected was not really happening at daycare. Dean realized that Sam was so smart, too. 

“Yay I get to see Lucy! And Mrs. Milton!” Sam exclaimed, hopping out of his seat and grabbing his homework folder. Dean grabbed Sam’s extra clothes, water bottle, and lunch and shoved it in his backpack. Dean grabbed his backpack and his car keys, then shut his apartment up and watched as Sam ran down the stairs to the car.

“What’s a soulmate?” Once Sam was settled and strapped in, Sam asked. Dean stopped to think about it. “It’s the person you’re supposed to spend the rest of your life with. The person you’re supposed to love and marry.” 

It was Sam’s turn to think. “So when do you meet her?” Dean shook his head. “Soulmates can be anyone. It could be a him or a her. And you meet them when you meet them, I guess. There’s not really a time.” Sam made a noise of surprised. “Really? That’s so cool! I want another daddy!” 

Dean laughed softly. “We’ll see, buddy. We’ll see.” 

“Do you wanna meet your soulmate, daddy?” Dean’s heart sped up a little bit. “Well, when you meet the soulmate, the first time you touch you can see their whole life. So the first time my soulmate touches me they’ll see everything that’s happened in my life.” Dean flinched at even the thought. Of course he wanted to meet his soulmate, but he sure as hell didn’t want his whole life put on display. 

“And that might be a little much, so I hope I meet my soulmate later in life.” Sam nodded, looking like he understood. Dean couldn’t imagine the horror his soulmate would feel after he saw what Dean had been through. Speaking of that, Dean made a mental note that he had to restock the first aid kit in his apartment because he hasn’t since the last time he needed stitches.

He shivered thinking about the memory of his father lunging at him with a knife. He was just lucky it hadn’t gone deeper. He stitched himself up in his apartment bathroom, then went straight back to work. And that was the type of thing that he didn’t want his soulmate to see. As well as the vampires, the ghosts, the wendigos, the werewolves… he was getting off track, though.

The last time he’d been on a hunt was a month ago when Bobby had come by and asked for help. Charlie watched Sam for the day, and they went and hunted down a ghost that was haunting some gym.

It was the first time he’d hunted with somebody other than his father, and it was the first time he actually had a good time. It was a long step towards the healing process and Bobby told him that the next time he was in town they’d hunt again. Dean was actually looking forward to that.

He had to go out and get more salt, too. He ran out of paint to touch up his sigils and he had to make some more. He was lucky salt was cheap or else he wouldn’t have dinner for another night.

They finally made it to Sam’s school and Sam clapped excitedly. “Alright Sammy, you ready?” Dean got out and helped unbuckle Sam, grabbing his backpack and putting it on his back.

Dean was lucky this was a good day. On bad days, Sam would cry and scream and cling to Dean with abandon. Some days Dean couldn’t even leave Sam. He would have to sit with him for hours and console him.

But, Sam went willingly today, grabbing his backpack and toddling into the school. “Bye daddy!” He shouted behind him, disappearing into the building. Dean sighed softly, shutting the door and getting back in the driver’s side. 

He rubbed his eyes for a brief second of peace, a second where his mind wasn’t running a marathon or screaming at him. But then that all started up again, everything he had to do needling the back of his head.

Dean was thankful it was Friday because he worked all this weekend at the Diner, so Ellen would probably give Dean all of his tips because she knew how tight they were on money. Jo would probably even give him some of her tips. Dean was just so lucky to have them. Sometimes Garth would even pay him to do research for a hunt, and that was Dean’s favorite. He was researching something about ancient vampires now.

Dean managed to make his way to school while thinking about a million other things on his mind. He parked his car and grabbed his stuff, getting out. 

“Dean!” Charlie called, running over and jumping on his back. “Hi Charlie.” He shook her off his back, putting her softly on the ground. “I got you a granola bar. Sorry it couldn’t be more.” Dean smiled gratefully.

“This is really nice, Char. Thank you.” He took it and put it in his backpack for later. “What day is it?” Charlie asked, and Dean groaned. “Friday. Means I have Mr. Novak first.” Charlie barked out a laugh.

“It’s bad to have a crush on a teacher, it’s even worse to have him first thing in the morning!” She laughed, shoving it in his face. Dean shot her daggers, but ultimately smiled. “Hey, at least it’s a normal problem, right?” Charlie asked, rubbing his arm. Dean groaned again.

“It’s not normal. It’s more normal than some of my other problems, though.” Charlie laughed this time. “That’s true. C’mon, I’ll walk with you that way.”

They talked about Dean’s work and how Charlie might visit him this weekend, until they finally got to Mr. Novak’s classroom. “Okay Dean-y, I’ll see you later?” Dean nodded, taking a deep breath. 

He walked into his classroom, clenching his teeth when he was the only one there. “Good morning,” Mr. Novak spoke, looking down at his papers. Dean took a sharp intake of air. “Hi Mr. Novak.”

When Mr. Novak heard Dean’s voice, his eyes shot up. They made brief eye contact before Dean had to look away, too afraid to blush. He’d never been shy like this, but when it came to Mr. Novak, he could barely even speak.

Dean slid into a desk, taking a deep, soothing breath. He grabbed his research book out of his backpack, and flipped to the page he left off on. He was supposed to be looking for a special way to kill them, but he hadn’t had any luck so far.

“What are you reading?” Mr. Novak was suddenly in front of him and Dean had to swallow the growing lump in his throat. He laughed nervously. “Some ancient folklore about vampires. For… uh-” He could not think of a single excuse. “Science.” He wanted to hit himself in the face. 

Mr. Novak laughed and Dean wanted to die. It was an easy laugh, though. It put Dean at ease. 

“Science must be a weird class. Good thing I teach English.” Dean gave him a smile, and he could see Mr. Novak squirm a little bit. 

“May I see it?” Dean nodded, closing the book and handing it up to him. While Mr. Novak was grabbing the book, his sleeve raised a little bit and Dean could see the faint initials of his soulmate. DW. 

Dean’s heart stopped for a second, but he quickly willed it to start working again. Mr. Novak’s first name was Jimmy. It didn’t start with a C. It was just a whole coincidence, no matter how painful it was, he had to squash that hope as quickly as it had come up. 

Mr. Novak flipped through his book, just looking through it. Dean watched him closely though and wanted to cry at the gentle look on his face. Everything about Mr. Novak was gentle. Dean would also literally kill for his voice.

He shut his eyes, taking a deep breath. When he opened them again, Mr. Novak was setting the book gently down on the desk in front of him. “Very interesting stuff. Doesn’t look like science, though. Next time just tell me if it’s leisure reading.” This time Dean did blush, trying to cover his eyes. 

“Can do.” He mumbled, wanting to reach forward and touch Mr. Novak’s hand. He knew that was a bad idea, though. He would just have to get through this like any other normal, teenager. But Dean was anything but normal.


	2. Chapter 2

“His wrist says what?!” Charlie hissed, grabbing Dean tightly by the arm. “It says DW!! Why is my life so shitty?!” Dean yelled, hitting his face. It was the end of the day, and they were walking back out to the parking lot together. 

“I don’t know, sweetheart.” Charlie rubbed his back, laughing a little bit. “Life really has it out for you.” And she didn’t even know the half of it. Just the Sam was his brother but Sam thought Dean was his father. She didn’t know about John or the hunting. 

“Are you working tonight?” Dean went to respond but suddenly a shorter man with dark brown hair appeared in front of them. Dean scrunched his eyebrows. 

“Can you guys tell me where Castiel’s room is?” Dean blinked his eyes and looked over to Charlie. She shrugged, giving him just as a confused look. 

“We don’t know a Castiel. Sorry.” Charlie continued to walk, but Dean lingered for a second. “Is he a teacher?”

The man in front of him facepalmed. “Yes, yes. Shit I’m sorry. Castiel Novak. Mr. Novak. I’m his brother, Gabe, and I just need to give him this stupid book-” He held out a book on translating Enochian and Dean pursed his lips.

“Jimmy… Novak?” Dean asked tentatively, and Charlie turned around, realization crossing her face. “Shit! I’m the worst. He doesn’t even go by Castiel here. Yes. Jimmy Novak.” If Dean were this man, he would be flustered, but he seemed to handle it with no problem at all. 

Dean paled as Charlie made all the connections in her head. He looked like a deer in headlights.

“His real name is Castiel?” Charlie asked eye brightening, smile widening. “Yeah, Castiel. Middle name is Jimmy.” Charlie clapped her hands excitedly. “C! Castiel Novak! CN, Dean!” She shouted and Dean motioned for her to calm down.

Gabe gave her a weird look, and Dean internally panicked. “His… room is through that door, down the hallway, up the stairs and then the second one on the left.” Gabe gave them a smile and a wave, on his way. Charlie squealed. 

“Mr. Novak is your soulmate!” She yelled, and Dean lunged forward and covered her mouth. 

“Shh, Charlie!” He scolded, pushing her towards his car, covering her mouth. They got in his car, and Charlie screamed again. “No way! This is so weird! How old is he even? You’re lucky you’re lega-”

Dean cut that thought off immediately. “He’s not my soulmate, Charlie. We’ve touched before.” Although Dean could not think of a specific time, he knew they had to have touched. Charlie shook her head.

“No, Dean, it has to be. You have a crush on him and this is the only time you’ve like ever had a crush on anyone ever!” Charlie retorted, and Dean blushed all the way down his neck. 

“I-I-” Dean couldn’t talk, he was too flustered. “He can’t be- This wouldn’t happen.” Dean shook his head. Charlie vehemently disagreed.

“What’s the worst that can happen, Dean? Nothing. Just give him a little touch.” Dean pinched the bridge of his nose, very sure he wasn’t going to cry. He couldn’t cry. “We’ll see, Charlie.”

Charlie sighed. “Okay, Dean. Whatever you think. Want to go pick up Sammy? I could use a ride home.” Dean smiled. “Now that, I can do. Let’s go.”

Castiel was on the other side of the school, grading the last of his papers when there was a knock on his door. He looked up, smiling at the sight of his brother. “Gabriel!” He exclaimed, getting up and going towards his brother.

“Hi Cassie!” Gabe wrapped his arms around him and held him tight. “How are you? It’s been forever!” Cas smiled. “It’s been good! Nothing as exciting as you’ve been doing, I’m sure, Gabriel, but still good!” 

“You would not believe what I’ve been up to. But, something else first. You know a guy named Dean?” Castiel’s heart sped up. “Yes, if you’re speaking of the same I am thinking of. If so, he’s one of my students. Why?” 

Gabe shrugged. “I asked him if he knew where your classroom was outside and he was very surprised to learn that your first name was Castiel. He thought it was Jimmy. But when I told him he got really pale. He even looked… scared. I dunno. Just thought it was weird.” 

Castiel froze and his fingers ghosted over the letters he knew he was on his wrist. “I think Dean is my… soulmate.” Castiel whispered the word soulmate as if it were a taboo word. “WHAT?!” Gabe roared, a happy look on his face. “He is so hot! Like, Cas, ruggedly hot. Like seriously. And young too! Oh my god, is he even legal?!” 

Castiel stopped him right there. “He’s a senior, and he’s actually nineteen. So, yes, he’s legal.” Gabe wagged his eyebrows. “So you’ve looked.” 

Castiel rolled his eyes. “Of course I’ve looked. I just haven’t been able to get a good look at his wrist. But I’m telling you, he’s it. My initials are DW and his name is Dean Winchester. I just need to see his wrist. Or touch him. I’ve definitely never touched him. I would have remembered.”

Gabe sighed. “You’re so dramatic. Just touch him. Touch his neck, touch his hand, touch his-” “That’s enough, Gabriel. Get to the point.” 

“Just touch him. That’s it, you don’t need to do anything else. I promise it’s worth it.” Cas felt a sudden touch of sympathy for his brother. “I’m sorry Gabriel. You’ll find your soulmate some day.” Gabriel smiled, and although Cas knew it was genuine, he could still see the sadness.

“I don’t even know if he’s my soulmate yet. But I know I’ve never felt like this about somebody before. But let’s change the subject. What are you doing here? Not that I’m not glad to see you, just-” 

Gabe groaned. “Stop rambling. I have a book for you.” Gabriel handed over the book and Castiel’s mood darkened. “You found it?” Gabe nodded, being serious himself for the first time in a long time.

“Now we can finally translate the tablet that Dad left us.” Gabriel nodded, taking a deep breath. “I still need to find one more book for the Demon tablet. But you can start on the Angel one.” Cas nodded. 

“Sounds good. I’ll see you next time?” Gabe shrugged. “I think I’m gonna stay for a little bit. Maybe translate a little. Have dinner with you. Make sure you actually see this whole Dean thing through.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tell me what you think :)


	3. Chapter 3

Friday evening came with a vengeance when Dean’s phone started ringing. He had finally gotten Sammy, managed to scrape together enough money to buy spaghetti for dinner, and gotten home to relax. But when he looked at the caller ID on his phone, he knew tonight was going to be anything but relaxing. At least it would help keep his mind off of Mr. Novak.

“Hi Bobby.” Dean answered the phone.

“Dean! Good to hear your voice. I’m in town- Market Street, right now, and I’m tracking a demon named Crowley. Heard he’s been causing trouble around here, making a ton of deals. At least six in the last month. Have you heard anything?” 

“No… I don’t think so. Garth told me that Ellen has been tracking a wendigo about an hour away, but that’s really it. I’ve heard nothing about deals.” Dean always tried to be quiet when talking about hunts around Sam.

“Huh. That’s weird. Meet me at the Diner? Jo can watch Sam while we hunt and I can pay for your dinners.” Bobby really knew how to talk to Dean.

“Yes, of course. We’ll be there in ten.” Dean hung up the phone, and turned to Sam who was happily watching a tv show.

“Hey buddy! You wanna go to the Diner for dinner? Uncle Bobby’s gonna be there!” Sam excitedly jumped up and into Dean’s arms, letting out a scream of happiness. Dean smiled and grabbed his car keys.

The ride to the Diner was short, and Ellen was surprised when Dean walked through the door. “Hi Sugar!” Ellen greeted, shaking her head. “You aren’t supposed to work today! What brings you in?” 

Dean set Sam down on the ground and he went running to Ellen. Ellen picked him up and spun him around. 

“Well, Bobby called and said he’s been tracking a demon.” He couldn’t help but smile at Sam’s giggles. But he continued. “So he’s picking me up here and we’re gonna eat some dinner. You mind watching Sam? He’ll probably fall asleep early, he had school toda-” 

Ellen cut him off. “Of course I can watch Sam, I love this little bundle of sunshine.” She kissed his forehead and held him close to her before letting him down. “I’ll go start some dinner for all you boys.” Sam followed her back into the kitchen, probably hoping for some sweet treats when Bobby came in.

“Hey son,” Dean felt an odd settle in his stomach when he heard Bobby call him son. “Hey Ellen!” Bobby called out and there was a faint response from the kitchen, but they weren’t too bothered to actually listen.

“Tell me about this demon.” Dean almost ordered, and the sat down at the closest table when Bobby huffed a deep sigh. 

“It’s a lot. I’m surprised you guys don’t know about it. I got a weird feeling that I should be checking on Lawrence, so I called Rufus and he said that everything was fine, but I just couldn’t shake that feeling. So I came and talked to some of the locals, and low and behold, found out there was a crossroad that had been getting a lot of action recently.” Dean scrunched his eyebrows.

“A feeling? That’s weird, Bobby, I don’t like it…” Dean was suspicious now, but Bobby simply shrugged. 

“It’s worth checking out to keep you boys safe.” Bobby patted Dean on the shoulder when Sam ran out of the kitchen and saw Bobby. “Bobby!” He shouted, running over and climbing onto his lap.

“Hi Sammy,” Bobby’s gruff voice never really got the hang of the whole baby talking thing, but Sam didn’t mind. Dean smiled, relishing the moment of peace. Then Ellen and Jo came out with dinner and they all sat down and Dean realized that even if he didn’t have a dad, he still had a family.

Dinner was quicker than Dean wanted it to be, and soon they were in Bobby’s pick-up truck planning out their attack.

“I say we go to a crossroad and summon a demon. Then we perform an exorcism and hopefully that’ll keep it away.” Bobby fiddled with his map and Dean leaned over, pointing to the only crossroad he knew about. Dean looked out the window, setting his head on the side of the car door.

“You okay, Dean?” Bobby asked, starting the car and pulling out of the parking lot. Dean sighed heavily. “I don’t know…” Dean responded, closing his eyes. “Was Karen your soulmate?” Bobby was blindsided by the question.

“Karen was my soulmate. But, I don’t think that’s why you’re asking… Did you find your soulmate, Dean?” Dean blushed darkly, reaching up and covering his cheeks. Bobby laughed a little bit.

“I don’t know. I think so, but I don’t know. Bobby, I… I don’t want him to see my… past.” Dean couldn’t quite communicate what he was feeling but Bobby understood.

“I know you’re scared, but I’m sure…” He looked at Dean, reaching out a comforting hand. “He’s probably been through stuff too, Dean. It’s okay. You guys were made for each other. He can work past whatever you give him.” Dean blushed darker, kind of embarrassed to be getting a lecture.

“Thanks Bobby.” He muttered, looking back out the window and Bobby couldn’t help but smile at him. 

“Who is this guy?” Bobby asked, and Dean wanted to hit his head against the window. Dean looked at him. “It’s my stupid English teacher.” 

Bobby choked back a laugh. “Your English teacher? Boy, you are certainly a hoot. How old is he?!” The humor in Bobby’s voice relaxed Dean considerably. “He’s… on the younger side, but older than twenty two I’m pretty sure. I know, I certainly am a… hoot.” Dean responded, soft smile on his face.

“Left up here.” Dean pointed, and Bobby turned into the parking lot. Bobby turned off the car, and Dean hopped out and grabbed the salt shotgun and the shovel. Bobby grabbed the ingredients and the box, and they trudged out to the middle of the crossroad.

Dean shoved the shovel into the ground, digging a hole while Bobby prepared everything. When Dean was finished Bobby stuck the box in the hole, finished with a picture of himself. Dean pushed dirt back over the box and took a deep breath.

Bobby started chanting Latin and Dean took a deep breath. He went through the words of an exorcism in his head, ensuring that he had it all down. Once Bobby finished, everything got eerily silent.

“Hello darlings,” A voice from behind started them and they whipped around, met with a shorter, round faced man with red eyes. He blinked and they were normal color. Dean lifted the gun and shot, but the gun suddenly flew out of his hands. 

Bobby lunged forward and Dean started.

“Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satani-” With a wave of a hand, Dean was thrown hard onto the ground and all of the breath left his lungs. Gravel ground into his forearms and he was momentarily blindsided from the pain. A sharp ache plagued Dean on the right side of his chest, but he ignored it as best as he could and looked around for Bobby. He had been thrown the opposite direction and Dean heard the demon laugh. 

“Trying to exorcise a team player? I thought you were smarter, Dean! You were smart enough to get lead here by this other hunter, but stupid enough to challenge me?!” Dean pulled back, gasping in a breath. “How do you know his name?!” Bobby demanded, and the demon simply shrugged.

“I’m very informed.” Dean stood up, trying to shake himself off. “Omnis satanic-” Dean was interrupted again.

“I’m a friend, honestly, stop it with that biblical mumbo jumbo. I come bearing gifts.” With a snap of his fingers, he was holding a knife. He offered the hilt to Dean, but Dean simply looked at it warily.

“What is that?” Bobby scrambled up off the ground, standing in front of Dean protectively. “Oh, relax old man.” The demon spoke, brushing him off. Bobby was suddenly transported back to the car and was unable to get out.

Dean leaned down to get the shotgun, but that was soon thrown all the way across the street. The demon sighed.

“I’m trying to do something nice. You’ll need this.” Dean snatched the weapon, moving back again. Dean started. “What is this and why are you giving this to me?” Dean suspiciously examined the knife. It was unlike anything he had ever seen; it was long, silver, triple sided and heavy.

“It’s an angel blade. Courtesy of,” He paused for a second, and pointed up to the sky. Dean stupidly looked up and was met with nothing but the cloudy night sky. “Angels themselves.” Dean rolled his eyes.

“Angels? Not real.” The demon shrugged. 

“I beg to differ, Dean. But hey, believe it or not, they and that blade can kill a lot of things. It will become very useful to you in the future.” The demon sighed forlornly. “Well, I must be going, but this was simply enthralling. I will be seeing you soon.” 

Dean couldn’t do anything but stand there, dumbfounded. 

“My name is Crowley, by the way. Pleasure to meet you, Dean Winchester. We will be seeing a lot of each other.”

And then Dean was alone, standing in the middle of a crossroad, more than confused.

Bobby soon joined him. “We should get out of here, Dean. And look at that weapon.” Dean shook his head, still out of it. “He called it an angel blade. Said it came from… angels.” Dean spoke, and Bobby huffed.

“Angels. What a joke.” They walked back to the car together in silence. “We’ll get him next time.” Bobby spoke, but Dean was left with the feeling that something good wasn’t coming.


	4. Chapter 4

After Friday night Dean went home and slept hard. He dreamed of Crowley, of Mr. Novak, of his father, and everything else. When he woke up, he simply shoved it to the back of his mind and vowed not to think of it until it brought itself back up. The only thing that kept it on his mind was that he had gotten hurt.

Being thrown to the ground had bruised one of Dean’s ribs and scraped up his forearms pretty well. There wasn’t much that could be done, unfortunately. He wrapped bandages around his arms and tried to take tylenol every four hours. Hopefully that would be enough to get him through it. 

Saturday morning came around and Dean grabbed Sammy and went immediately to the library. He grabbed everything he could about angels, angel folklore, biblical folklore, anything. He even grabbed a copy of the bible. He almost went as far as buying a crucifix, just to have it. The thought of angels scared him.

Bobby dropped off all the books he had that even mentioned the bible. Ellen, Jo, and Garth went through everything they had and dropped that off too. So Dean spent about seven hours researching angels, but he didn’t learn much. He simply found a set of wards that prevented angels from being able to locate or touch something. So he got out a cloth and painted the signs and then wrapped the blade up.

He put it in the side of his car, which was covered in wards, sigils, anasazi signs, everything, so nobody could touch the blade except humans. He also grabbed a book on the language of angels, hoping that if something else came up that could aid him.

He had looked at way too many books and he had to take a break. He also needed money for the week. So he went to work.

Dean worked the entire rest of the weekend, waiting tables and smiling as brightly as he could for tips. After the bills, though, he did not have a lot of money left. So he swore off breakfast for the week. He couldn’t even give Sam all the breakfast he wanted and the guilt ate away at him. But he could work past that. 

He was at school now, just back from dropping Sammy off. It had been a rougher morning than usual, and Sam ended up crying for awhile in the car. Dean was a little late, but he pushed past it. He finally got to school, having only missed first period. Unfortunately, next period was Mr. Novak’s class and Dean had been purposefully not allowing himself to think about him. Or soulmates. Or anything really.

But now here he was, at Mr. Novak’s door, wanting to cry. Charlie stood behind him, hand on his shoulder. Nobody else was in the room because class didn’t start for another ten minutes, and as much as Dean knew he should walk away and just come back later, he found himself with his hand on the door knob. He took one last look back at Charlie and she ushered him forward.

Dean took a deep breath, taking his hand off the doorknob. “No.” She grabbed Dean’s hand and dragged him through the door. “Hi Mr. Novak! Here I am, with Dean!” Charlie practically shouted and he looked up from his desk and Dean immediately looked at the ground. 

“Goodmorning Charlie… Dean.” The way Mr. Novak said his name made Dean’s stomach twirl. “How old are you, by the way? And do you have a house?” Charlie asked, and Dean was mortified, but he managed to keep his face straight. “She’s weird. I don’t know why she’s asking that.” Dean pushed out, smacking her back, and her grin just widened.

“Those are weird questions, yes, but I don’t think Charlie’s weird. I’m twenty three, and yes, I have a house.” Cas responded inquisitively, and Charlie made a happy noise. “Well, that’s certainly good. Twenty three is young, yeah?” She turned back and gave Dean a look and he literally wanted to stab her right now.

“Charlie, are you in my next class?” Mr. Novak looked down at his attendance and she quickly straightened up. “Nope! Just here with Dean. But I’ll leave now. See you later!” She hopped out of the class.

Dean cleared his throat. “You’re wrong. She is weird.” Dean expressed, and Mr. Novak let a natural laugh flow through the room. “Whatever you say, Dean.” Dean felt an odd sort of pride for making him laugh. There was a moment of silence before Mr. Novak’s eye began to wander.

He went to look down at Dean’s wrist, hoping to catch a glance at Dean’s marking, but was surprised to see his wrists were bandaged pretty tightly. He internally cursed at both Dean’s physical well being and the inability to see his initials. 

“Dean, what happened to your arms?!” Mr. Novak sounded worried and Dean was temporarily taken aback. He wracked his mind for an excuse good enough to believe.

“I, uhm, fell down and scraped my arms this weekend. But they’re okay.” He lied through his teeth and although Mr. Novak wanted to believe him, he couldn’t quite make himself. He inched his way towards Dean.

Dean’s hand was right there, right in front of him, and with just a simple step he could feel his soulmate’s skin. Feel his life. It was something his father always talked about; always jealous of his son’s souls for being able to have a soulmate. Cas was so wrapped up in thinking about soulmates that he couldn’t help himself from opening his mouth.

“Dean, I-I… have a question.” Mr. Novak started, even though he had no idea what he was going to say. Dean looked up and nodded, clenching his jaw a little bit.

“Do you have your marking?” Mr. Novak blurted out, and Dean flinched. He knew that this is what it would come down to. He wanted to lie, was planning to lie, but he couldn’t when he looked into Mr. Novak’s eyes.

“Yes.” He looked down, and Mr. Novak took a step forward. “What…” Castiel trailed off, clearing his throat. “What are your letters?” Both of their hearts were racing. Dean’s whole body was tense, and Mr. Novak could barely even hear his own thoughts.

“I… don’t know.” Dean shook his head, and Mr. Novak took another step. He could just reach out now and they could touch hands. 

“That’s not true, Dean. We both know that.” Cas took a deep breath. 

“Is your name really Castiel?” Dean asked, almost with no sense of self control. 

Cas smiled a little bit. “Yeah. People call me Jimmy because it’s my middle name. Castiel is my first name.”

“And… it starts with a C?” Dean enquired and adrenaline coursed Cas’s veins. “Yes… a C. Why… do you ask?” Cas asked gently, already knowing the answer. 

“You… my letters… are, ah,” Dean paused for a second, nervously tugging at the bandages on his arms. “CN. Like… Castiel Novak.”

Cas couldn’t help the grin that spread over his face and Dean felt his throat tighten. “My letters are DW. Like… Dean Winchester.” Dean shrugged, trying to keep everything nonchalant. He just didn’t want to show his hope right now, and he couldn’t forget about the fear that climbed his spine at the thought of Mr. Novak knowing his past. 

“R-really…” Dean trailed off, nervously shuffling. 

“May I… touch you?” Cas asked and Dean took a step back. “I-I don’t know.” He started, and the look of betrayal on Cas’s face made him hurt a little bit. “I’m sorry I-I-” 

The door opened and another student came in and Dean immediately went back to his seat. Cas took a deep breath, trying to get himself under control. He just needed to get through class and then he could talk to Dean privately again. 

It was hard for Cas to get through because he just desperately wanted to feel Dean’s skin. He wanted to share the bond that only him and Dean could have. He knew that there could be doubt that Dean was even his soulmate, but Cas felt it. He knew that Dean was his. He was sure of it. 

Dean kept his head on his desk all class just listening to Cas’s voice. He just couldn’t bare to look up. He was scared. When class was over, he lifted his head up and found Cas standing behind him, carefully looking. He took a deep breath.

“Dean, I will never pressure you into anything. Tell me when you’re ready and I will be right beside you.” He very deliberately put his hand on Dean’s clothed shoulder and the softness in Mr. Novak’s voice went right to Dean’s head.

He thought for a second, for one single second, that his soul mate shouldn’t care about his past. Maybe, just maybe, this would be a good thing. Dean made a split second decision in the second he was thinking that everything was going to be alright. No impulse control was always one of his problems, but he didn’t know that it was this bad. Maybe he should go talk to someone.

He reached up and lightly set his fingers on Mr. Novak’s, and in the blink of an eye, he was somewhere else. 

All of Cas’s memories flashed before his eyes; his big family, loving dad, an absent mother, piano, books, four years of college, fun memories with roommates, but then he saw snaps of something he wasn’t expecting. Stuff like his stuff. He saw a demon, or two, but he couldn’t really be sure. Then they just continued. Dean felt happy, and light, and he could tell that Cas had a life that was worth living. Loving brothers, a loving sister, dogs, cats, just everything that Dean had never had. 

Every memory was accompanied with a feeling that Dean had never felt. It felt almost… inhuman. Like Castiel felt things differently, saw things differently. Dean tried to probe into the memories, to see more of something that looked like a bright light, something special about Castiel’s father, but it was almost like something was controlling what he saw. It just kept going without Dean being able to see.

Then he felt the death of Cas’s father. The sadness, the grief, the mourning were all a little too familiar for Dean. After the death of his own mother, he could pinpoint those feelings anywhere. But time moved on and he felt Cas move on, get his teaching job, and buy a house. 

A scene started but then it got too fuzzy to see. A bright, searing light filled Dean, made him feel airy and vulnerable. It hurt, but not quite in a bad way. Then, as quickly as he’d seen all the memories, they vanished right before his eyes. And then he could see the horror on his soulmate’s face.

Castiel saw too much. He saw the bruises, the cuts, the demons, the vampires, the ghosts, and then he saw a baby. He felt what it was like to be a father, struggle to make rent, not being able to eat because he didn’t have money, having to run from his father. He felt the panic and fear and doubt that he had in himself and the world. He went through every panic attack, every beating, and he could not snap himself out of it. He just had to keep watching. 

He saw the love that Dean had for Sam. He saw every inch of their apartment, every time the first aid kit had to be used. He felt all the physical pain Dean had been through, and he shuddered to think about all the mental pain. He saw so many demons. He saw the fire on his baby brother’s ceiling. He saw his mother burn. Even before that, though, he could feel pain. However, he wasn’t sure where it came from. 

Castiel saw something he found very startling. Dean had an angel blade, something Cas had never seen in real life, in his car, wrapped up in a cloth that had all kinds of sigils he had never seen. He had books in his passenger seat about Enochian spells for summoning an angel. He could feel Dean’s intentions too. Dean did not believe in angels and was confused why someone would tell him they exist.

Dean couldn’t even watch Castiel’s face anymore. He grabbed his backpack and bolted to the door.

The last thing Cas saw was a small knife plunging into Dean’s side. That scared him right out of Dean’s memories. He gasped in a deep breath, gripping the area where Dean had been stabbed with an intensity that scared him. When he came to, he saw Dean running out of the room. That was enough to send panic through Cas and he quickly scribbled on the board that the next periods could have study halls. And then he ran after Dean.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so so much for all your kind comments, seriously!!!


	5. Chapter 5

“Dean!” Cas shouted, only barely able to see him. “Please, please,” He mumbled, hoping that Dean would stop, but Dean kept going. He did everything in his power to get Dean to stop but Dean was too far away.

Dean could not bare to face Cas after that. Cas had such a nice life, and Dean was worth nothing. He had nothing except for baggage and a son. Nothing to offer. So he ran, and was hoping that he could run from this like he ran from everything else.

Dean breathed heavily, not even so much from the running. He was just overwhelmed. He was maybe gonna go to Bobby’s or to Ellen’s for the night. Just to get away. Castiel had to know where he lived now. He’d seen Dean drive, both legally and illegally, there a million times from his memories. 

Castiel was not scared. He was angry. He was shocked, and jealous, and just protective and he needed to feel Dean under his fingers, just feel his heartbeat because he was so lucky Dean was still alive and breathing. He had seen every time that his breath was almost taken away. He was livid because if he had just known, if he could have met Dean earlier, he could have healed him and stopped his pain.

Castiel could not lose him after only just gaining him.

Dean's only thought was to get away, to run far away from here so Mr. Novak couldn't confront him about his life.

But now Dean was running and Cas was running after him. Dean finally made it to his car, fumbling in his backpack to try to get his keys. His heart was beating out of his chest and he felt like he was going to throw up but he swallowed all of it and just tried to get his keys. “C’mon,” He mumbled rummaging through his backpack, unable to find his keys. Little did he know that was Cas’s doing because he was willing Dean’s hand to not grab them.

Dean finally grabbed his keys but it was too late. 

Arms trapped him against his car and his breath caught in his throat. “Dean,” Cas whispered out, hands curling around his waist. Tingles shot up Dean as Cas repeated his name again. “Dean, Dean,” He started and Dean started to shake.

“I’m so sorry.” Cas’s voice was filled with sadness and hurt and sympathy and it made Dean weak at the knees. His voice was needy, desperate for Dean. “I’m so, so sorry. How…” He couldn’t even finish his sentence. 

“Dean.” He kept saying, voice soft, just feeling Dean’s warmth. He kneeled down and grabbed the bottom of Dean’s shirt, lifting it up. It revealed the new scar from the knife that his father had left on him and Cas ran his fingertips over it. 

He so desperately wanted to heal him, but he did not want to scare him. That was the last thing on his mind, and if Dean saw Cas’s grace right now, he would definitely be scared. Castiel was not as talented as his brothers, either, so when he healed someone, a bright blue light would surround his hands. 

Dean was already fearful. Cas could feel that. He could feel the way Dean thought Cas was just going to abandon him because of his past. Dean thought that Cas was going to leave him in the dust, to make him go back to his father, to make him hurt more than he already did. Cas not only planned to never, ever leave Dean, but he already vowed never to let anything touch him ever again.

“So hurt.” Cas breathed, and Dean grabbed his hand firmly and pressed it to the scar. It was like he didn’t even have control of his actions. 

“‘M okay.” He mumbled, letting Cas feel it. “See?” Cas shook his head and stood back up. “Not okay.” Cas spoke, making sure Dean understood. He could feel every injury on Dean right now, and he was really hurt. A broken rib, scarred back, scarred arms, and much more points of damage were invading every thought Castiel had.

“None of this is okay.” He shook his head again, starting his hand at Dean’s shoulder and trailing down to his wrist. Castiel grabbed his wrist somewhat forcefully and Dean held his breath.

Castiel carefully pushed the bandages down and he almost cried out. His initials, his own initials were on Dean Winchester’s body for the rest of eternity. 

“Me.” He was breathless, touching his initials. “This is me. This is… mine.” Cas moaned, and Dean nodded. “Such a good brother, Dean, such a good father. Such a good boy.” Castiel whispered sweet things in his ear, and tears filled Dean’s eyes because he couldn’t stop them this time. He hadn’t gotten attention like this since… well, forever.

The attention was dizzying. Cas only had him on his mind, only Dean, and nobody else. “I-I-I-” Dean stuttered, but he couldn’t stop himself. He couldn’t talk. He wanted to say thank you, to thank his soul mate, but he couldn’t get it out.

“I know, Dean,” Cas shushed him, just feeling him. “I’m so sorry. I feel it. I’m so, so sorry. I have no words. I feel so much. I feel all of you. Please, please,” Cas unashamedly spoke, praying that Dean did not get the hint that he could literally feel his emotions and physical ailments. “Let’s go somewhere. Anywhere. But here.” Dean nodded in agreement, resting his hand on Cas’s shoulder and feeling his neck with his thumb.

“Food.” Cas moaned, feeling Dean’s hunger. He was surprised Dean was not skinnier by how much he didn’t eat. “So hungry, Dean. Not nearly enough food for you. You need to eat.” Dean nodded. 

“Breakfast.” Dean responded, barely able to even get that word out. Cas agreed wholeheartedly. “Pancakes.” Dean whispered again and Cas was just so excited that they were there together that he would have said yes to anything.

“Absolutely.” Cas grabbed Dean’s hand. “Let’s go.”


	6. Chapter 6

Dean was in the passenger seat of his English teacher AND soulmate’s car. He wanted to say it wasn’t awkward, that he and his soulmate just clicked so well that they were already close, but it was awkward. Dean didn’t know what to say, and his throat was so uncomfortably tight he didn’t even know if he could say anything.

He looked over to Castiel, just studying every curve and edge of his face. He looked at his blue eyes and the little bit of stubble on his chin and when Castiel caught him looking, he blushed and looked the other way as quickly as possible.

“Are you okay?” Castiel spoke, and Dean nodded fervently. He kept his eyes glued out the window, looking at the passing scenery. Dean anxiously pressed his thumb into the palm of his other hand.

“Can I call you Cas?” Dean’s voice was little, and Dean hadn’t felt this tiny in a long time. He was not timid, but when it came to this, he could barely even work up enough courage to touch his soulmate. Castiel looked over at Dean, relishing the moment.

“Dean, you can call me whatever you want.” His hand reached out and gently grabbed Dean’s, and Dean’s heart just about stopped. Cas’s thumb rubbed circles across Dean’s skin and Dean had never felt more alive than in that exact moment. 

“Sam told me he wants your name to be Cookie Nonster.” He smiled as Castiel burst out laughing. His hand squeezed Dean’s a little tighter.

“I did not see that memory. Should I legally change my name to make him happy?” Dean couldn’t help but laugh that time too. “You’d have a hard time as a teacher.” Castiel laughed even harder, and Dean could literally feel the tension leaving his body.

“Sammy’s gonna like you.” Dean mumbled in his moment of happiness, but almost immediately regretted it. He looked over at Cas to gauge his reaction. Cas felt the change in Dean’s emotions almost directly after. He looked over at Dean, and gave him a sad smile.

“You think I will see Samuel as a burden.” Dean was astounded by Castiel’s forwardness. Dean nodded, carefully watching his facial expressions. 

“It’s not everyday you find out your soulmate has a son.” Dean’s voice was different and Cas decided he liked it much better when he was happy.

“Dean, your lack of faith in me is frightening.” Castiel started and Dean clenched his jaw, scared that Cas was angry with him. “I-I didn’t mean-” Dean stuttered, but he cleared his throat to try again.

“What… what memories did you see?” Dean finally got out, and Cas pulled into the parking lot of a restaurant and turned off the car. He turned to look at Dean, and by the look on his face, Dean had practically already gotten his answer. 

“I saw a lot, Dean. Enough to know that it was a complete violation of the privacy you wanted.” Castiel sounded guilty, and then Dean felt guilty that he was making Cas feel like that. “It’s not your fault-” Cas cut Dean off. 

“It’s not my fault but I am still deeply sorry. I will not speak of anything that you do not want to speak about…” Cas trailed off, mind going back to the horrific things he’d seen, not knowing if he could keep that promise. “Although, there may be some things that come up, like your family and money situation.” 

Dean knew it was coming, but he appreciated it in some twisted way. He nodded and Cas got the hint to drop the conversation. So he opened the door and gestured for Dean to do the same.

“Nothing about your life will burden me, Dean. Don’t ever worry about that.” Cas whispered in his ear as they walked into the restaurant and Dean couldn’t help the shy smile that lifted his lips.

They got a table and settled down, and Dean took yet another deep breath, trying to calm his nerves.

“Your, um,” Dean blushed a dark red even with his strongest efforts not to as he looked at Castiel. “Piano playing is beautiful. I saw a lot of that in your memories.” Cas almost died at how cute Dean was, sitting across the table from him.

“I would love to play for you sometime. What else did you see in my memories?” Castiel was not worried about any of his secrets being revealed because his father constantly reassured him and his brothers that would not be an issue when they met their soulmate. When Michael met his soulmate, she didn’t see anything about their life that would have given their statuses away. Yet, he was still curious to what Dean saw.

“I saw your childhood house, which is beautiful. I saw your father and your brothers. I saw so much piano it isn’t even funny.” Cas still laughed, though. “I saw your roommate in college, Meg.” Dean thought about the demons he saw and whether or not to bring that up, but he decided not to, at least now. 

Come to think of it, Cas had not brought up the memories of all the hunts he had been on, which lead Dean to believe that Castiel already knew about the monster world. To any normal person, they would probably be thoroughly freaked out if they just saw that everything they were ever afraid of is real. Cas had to know, but he didn’t want to talk about that now.

“I saw your father, and was a little confused about him. It was all very weird and fuzzy. I saw some bright blue lights,” Castiel’s face went from relaxed to worried real quick, but Dean didn’t pick up on it. “And I felt weird but maybe it was just a weird memory?” 

Castiel nodded, relieved that Dean didn’t think too much of it. “I think Gabriel is my favorite brother of yours.” Castiel shook his head and laughed.

“When he hid in the washing machine to scare Michael but he ended up trapped in there was probably the funniest thing to ever happen to me and I wasn’t even there.” Castiel laughed again, but in a sense it made him kind of sad because Dean hadn’t really ever had anything fun.

“Gabriel certainly is a character.” Cas made an annoyed face, and Dean tilted his head.

“What, um… happy ones did you see in mine?” Dean requested, making sure to emphasize that he was only asking for the happy ones. Cas thought for a second.

“Although many of your memories were not happy, I can feel how you take the best of your hardships. I felt your undying love for Sam, your devotion to Bobby and everyone at your workplace, your willingness to protect and help others without even knowing them, and your sheer ability to move on. I… may suggest later on that we talk to a professional about them,” Cas may have powers, but not the powers to help Dean cope with his father’s abuse. He’d need a lot of help with that. “But you are truly an amazing person. I could see that.”

“I see a therapist.” Dean shrugged, trying not to think about the compliments, and Castiel scowled at him.

“The guidance counsellor at school barely counts as it is, but you don’t even tell her the truth.” Cas said and Dean got the sudden urge to flip him off, but refrained.

“I didn’t say I saw a real therapist.” Dean assured, and Cas rolled his eyes. 

“We can talk about this later. Just tell me about the good things.” Cas smiled.

They continued to talk and they ordered food and they just had a good time until Dean realized he did not have money to pay for his meal. He was almost shocked that it took him this long to remember he didn’t have any money, but he chalked it up to having a good time and being overwhelmed with this whole soulmate thing.

He shifted nervously in his seat as Cas asked for the check. “Cas,” He spoke almost inaudibly, and Cas could feel his nervousness. “I don’t have the money for this.” Cas sat back in his chair, giving Dean a confused look.

“I know you don’t have the money, Dean. I know you haven’t eaten breakfast in at least four years.” Dean looked down, ashamed and Cas reached his hand over. Dean stretched his hand out to meet in the middle. “I have money. And I’m going to make sure that you and Sam are never hungry again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i moved into college so i won't be updating as much but i literally love this story way too much to leave it!!! thank you so much for all your comments!!


	7. Chapter 7

Castiel and Dean left the restaurant and drove back to the school, and they were soon at Dean’s car. 

“I, um…” Dean trailed off, restlessly shuffling his feet, unsure of how to say goodbye. Something in him was telling him to lean over and kiss him, but he thought it was far too soon to even think of that.

“I think I want to go home. Not really into going back to class now.” Cas nodded, understanding. 

“That’s okay,” Castiel wanted to go home too, but he wanted Dean to come with him. Dean didn’t seem as into the idea as much as Cas did, so he didn’t press. “You should go home. Maybe sleep. You seem tired.” 

Dean agreed, rubbing his eyes. 

“I’ll see you later.” Dean reached into his backpack and grabbed his keys. He gave a wave and turned around, ready to get in his car and drive off, but he felt lingering words on his lips. Before he had a chance to act on those words, Cas cleared his throat, and Dean turned back around.

Cas reached his arms out and grabbed Dean’s shoulders, pulling him into a hug. Dean tensed for a second, but after a good moment, he melted into Cas. Cas took a deep breath, hugging Dean tighter. 

“Call me if you need anything, okay?” He had given Dean his phone number, praying that Dean would call. Dean nodded into Cas’s chest, closing his eyes. “I would also like to meet Sam. At your pace, though. I don’t want to rush anything. I want you to decide when you feel comfortable, for anything. Seriously.” 

Dean breathed out, pulling back. “We’ll see. I’ll talk to him… do you, uh,” Dean uncomfortably shifted, blushing again. He cursed his stupid red cheeks. “Want to do something tonight? Maybe dinner?”

Cas couldn’t help but smile widely. He was almost astounded that Dean asked him to do something. “Of course I would, Dean.” Dean beamed, putting his hands together. “Great! What should we do?” Dean replied, and Cas put his hand on Dean’s cheek. 

“I would be happy to do anything with you.” Dean shyly smiled, putting his head down. 

“We can go to your diner? We can meet there at seven. And you choose whether or not to bring Sam.” Cas suggested, and Dean nodded enthusiastically. Dean could not believe how understanding and kind Cas was being to him about the whole thing. He was endlessly grateful, but still surprised.

“That sounds great. You know where it is?” Dean asked, and Cas gave him a look. “Of course I do, Dean, I just saw a great deal of your life.” 

Dean scrunched his face up, mocking him. “Well, fine, but if you get lost don’t come crying to me!” They both laughed and it felt so natural and familiar. Dean said goodbye again, getting in his car, and going to lay down for a little bit. He hoped that Castiel didn’t see what had happened last night, but he could really only hope.

Cas looked back, wanting to go and be with Dean. He also wanted to see the angel blade in the cloth that was in the side pocket of the driver seat, but maybe he could talk to Dean about it later.

Instead, he got his phone out and called Gabe. He answered with a swift hello. 

“Yeah Gabriel? Come over to my house now.”

 

By the time Castiel had told the administration that he was not feeling well and that he had to go home and actually driven home, Gabe was already at his house.

Gabe actually looked worried as Castiel approached him. “What’s wrong?” Gabe furrowed his eyebrows and Castiel unlocked the door, pushing him inside.

“I touched Dean.” Gabe’s face lit up but it got considerably more concerned when Cas’s tone of voice registered. “And…?” Gabe prodded. “You don’t like him?”

Castiel violently shook his head. “It’s not that, at all. In fact, probably the complete opposite. It’s the memories I saw.” Castiel paused, trying to collect his thoughts. Gabe eagerly awaited his next sentence.

“He’s a hunter, with a seriously dark past. Like, think of the worst life someone could live and that’s pretty much what Dean has lived through.” Gabriel sat down on the couch as Castiel kept speaking. “He’s got this dad who is really, truly one of the most terrible people to ever set foot on this Earth. And just the sheer danger of the hunts that disgusting father took him on has me right on the edge. He has so many scars that I can’t even fix because he would lose it if he figured out I’m a ne-”

Gabriel cut him off. “It’s okay, Cas, he definitely doesn’t know what you are. No chance.” Gabriel sounded sure of himself, but Castiel sat next to him.

“He-” Cas started, bringing himself back together. “He has an angel blade. And I don’t know where he got it.”

That stopped Gabriel right in his tracks.

“An… angel blade? I haven’t even seen one of those in real life. Just know what we’ve read about them.” Gabe asked, almost as dumbfounded as poor Castiel was.

“Where did he get it?” Gabe demanded an answer, and Castiel shook his head. “I don’t know. I didn’t see that at all. He doesn’t believe angels exist, but someone, or something, told him they did. I couldn’t see who or what. But he knows they’re powerful. He’s been… researching angels, and he painted wards on a cloth and surround the angel blade. It makes it so angels, nephilims, and even prophets can’t touch it.”

Castiel was confused and scared, but he knew Dean did not have malintent. 

“He does not mean to use it for bad. He’s scared of it, scared of angels, scared of us. If I healed him, something I so desperately want to do because he is beyond hurt, he would freak out. If he even suspected I was a nephilim,” Does he even know what a nephilim is? Cas asked himself. “He would run away. I’m so scared of that. What if he runs away, Gabriel?” Castiel asked, voice quiet and subdued. 

Gabriel reached out a hand. “I’m sure we can figure something out. As for now, just spend time with him. Heal him when he’s asleep, one injury at a time. Don’t touch the angel blade. If he thinks someone has taken it, he’ll probably really freak out. I think you should just lay low.”

Castiel nodded, trying to process all this information. “He said something about Dad, too. Said he saw bright blue lights and everything was fuzzy and weird. How could he have seen that? Michael’s soulmate doesn't even know of his status now and they have been together for years. How could Dean have seen something like that?”

“Maybe because he’s already been exposed to stuff like us.” Gabe shrugged. “Has he hunted Demons? Maybe that’s why, I mean demons are pretty much just the opposite of us.” Castiel shivered.

“He’s encountered entirely too many demons. I plan to never have him near one again.” Gabriel laughed a little bit.

“Possessive already, Cassie? How is he otherwise?” Castiel almost swooned, grabbing his chest.

“Oh Gabriel he is the bravest person I have ever had the honor of meeting. Despite all of these setbacks, he manages to have so much kindness and empathy in him, filled with warmth and love and hope, and he’s such a good father-” Gabriel cut Cas off with a gasp.

“A father?!” Gabriel raised his voice, and Castiel sighed. 

“He’s not the biological father, it’s his five year old brother. A demon killed their mother in a fire, and their father had not taken it well. His father kicked them out of the house when the little one was just a baby. Dean was only fourteen.” Gabriel looked horrified, and Cas continued. 

“For about two years after he would drag Dean on these hunts for the demon that killed his mom, but Dean would just get hurt. And he’d have to scramble to find a safe place for Sam while he hunted. Then his father would leave him wherever, making him find his own way back home. Now, his father just beats him senseless whenever he sees him. Last time he actually,” Cas shuttered and he felt physically ill.

“He actually stabbed Dean with a knife. And Dean just went back to his apartment, stitched himself up, and went on.” Gabe sat there with an appalled look on his face. 

“You sure have a fixer upper there, Cas.” Gabriel whispered, reaching out a hand and placing it on Cas’s shoulder. 

“But he doesn’t need fixing. He is perfect exactly the way he is. He is so strong and so courageous. I would do anything to ensure his happiness and safety.” Cas finished, and Gabriel smiled.

“I’m glad he’s yours, Cas. You could’ve gotten someone boring, like Mikey.” They both laughed at that. Everything was comfortable again and although Gabe didn’t say it, Castiel knew that he would support and love Cas’s soulmate no matter what.

“We’re supposed to go to dinner tonight. What do you think I should wear?”


	8. Chapter 8

Dean set Sam down on the floor in the diner, and went to stretch out his back. Sam ran off to the back room and he knew Ellen would be out in a matter of seconds to greet him, so he relished the quick moment of silence.

He was terribly nervous to see Castiel tonight because he didn’t know if it was a date or not. He sat and debated for about a whole hour what he should wear. After that long debate, he just decided that he should wear his uniform in case Ellen wants him to work after. His uniform was a black long sleeve shirt, black pants, and a white apron.   
He desperately tried to find someone to watch Sam because he was so worried about Sam meeting his soulmate, but he couldn’t find anyone. Now he just hoped that Ellen could keep him in the back for longer than twenty minutes.

“Dean?” Jo called out and Dean snapped out of his thoughts. “Yeah! In here!” Dean shouted back, and both her and her mom came out of the kitchen. Sam was clutching Jo’s neck, hanging on tightly.

“What’ya doing?” Jo asked, thinking back to his schedule and being pretty sure that he wasn’t on tonight.

“I, um-” Dean cleared his throat, looking at Sammy. He awkwardly shuffled his feet, taking a breath. 

“Sammy you can go get a lollipop from the kitchen.” They had a candy stash that Sam could go get if he was having a good day. He squealed excitedly and wiggled out of Jo’s arms, running into the kitchen.

“I met my soulmate.” Dean mumbled, but they couldn’t hear him. “What?” Ellen questioned, making a face. Dean scrunched his face up, reaching his hands up and rubbing his temples.

“I met my soulmate.” Dean reiterated, and Jo’s face lost all of it’s color.

“YOUR SOUL MATE?!” She shrieked, excitement covering her face. Ellen sat down for a moment, gripping her chest. Jo practically tackled Dean, jumping up and down. “Shh!” Dean silenced her. “I don’t want to explain it to Sam quite yet.”

“You found your soulmate?!” She whisper yelled, and hugging Dean tightly. Dean couldn’t help the smile that came to his face.

“Who is it?!” Ellen exclaimed, and Dean dragged Jo over to the table her mom was sitting at. Sammy came running out, content with a lollipop in his mouth. Dean handed him a book to go look at. Dean, Ellen, and Jo settled at the table and talked with hushed voices.

“It’s my English teacher.” Ellen pulled back, and it got oddly quiet. Dean sat there, stiff and waiting for a response. 

“Your… English teacher…” Jo trailed off, but Ellen went into mom mode. “How old is he?” Dean shrugged, trying to think. 

“Definitely not older than twenty six.” Ellen had a relieved look on her face. “Okay, that’s good then. What were the memories like?” Dean blushed a little bit, rubbing his hands together. “They were very nice. He’s a talented piano player, and he’s very kind hearted. The only thing that kinda freaked me out is I know I saw demons. I couldn’t really see, but I could feel that he already knew what it was.”

A perplexed look crossed both of their faces.

“Really? Did you see anything else like our stuff?” Jo asked, and Dean shrugged. “I only saw demons. But, he didn’t say anything about what he saw in my memories. He didn’t even seem surprised. He was mostly just…” Dean coughed, closing his eyes. “Upset about everything else.”

Ellen flinched, reaching her hand out and setting it on his shoulder. “I’m sorry, Dean. Did you guys talk about it?” Dean shook his head vehemently.

“We talked a little bit about Sam. He mentioned the money issues I’ve been having, and how concerned he was about me not eating anything. He didn’t mention John, but he did acknowledge that I had family issues. He made it very clear that he wouldn’t pressure me into anything and I can set everything at my own pace.”

Dean thought for a second, wondering if he missed anything. “But he didn’t say anything at all about the monsters.” 

Ellen shrugged, standing up to head back to the kitchen. “Well, we’ll give it time. Maybe he’s just not ready to talk about the world of creepy crawlies.” She set a hand on the back of Dean’s head, lost in thought. “I’m gonna go get ready for the dinner rush. You get ready for your date!” She smiled, sending him off. Sam toddled off after her, and Dean took a deep breath, trying to relax. 

The bell at the door rang and Dean turned his head and was greeted with a perfectly disheveled Castiel. 

Dean stood up quickly, smiling. “Hi!” Dean ignored his nerves at all costs, and the smile that spread onto Cas’s face helped.

“Hello, Dean.” Cas looked around, studying the surroundings. “This is a very… comfortable place.” Dean laughed, understanding exactly what he meant.

“Yeah it really is. I’m pretty sure Ellen didn’t even try to make this homey, it just happened.” Dean said and started walking over to a table. Dean sat them, which was weird because he wasn’t working, but he was sure that Jo would be okay with serving them.

“I don’t know whether that’s impressive, or just a testament to her personality.” They both laughed, and Dean couldn’t help but get uncomfortably hot. He rolled his sleeves up and set his hands back down on the table. Cas’s eyes travelled down to where his initials were etched on his skin. The bandages were higher now, but he could still see the scrapes.

Cas’s breath caught in his throat, every little reminder that Dean was his left him with a fluttering heart. A million ideas went through his head on how he could heal Dean without showing him his grace. For a brief second he considered making Dean fall asleep, so he could just heal all of his wounds there. Perhaps that would be a bit too suspicious.

Dean snapped him out of his thoughts. “I actually got these the other night. I fell pretty hard into some gravel.” Dean reached his arms out, showing off more of his bandages. Castiel didn’t know how he fell but he could deduce who had caused it.

“That does not sound pleasant. Are you taking care of them?” Cas asked, and Dean nodded in response. “As much as I can.” Dean shrugged.

Jo hopped out of the kitchen and pranced over to their table. “Hiya!” She exclaimed, clapping her hands. Cas smiled up at her and Dean blushed and looked down.

“My name is Jo. What’s yours?” She stuck her hand out to Cas, and he happily took it. “Castiel. Very nice to meet you, Jo.”

“I’m sure you’ve met me before! You know, with Dean’s memories and stu-” Dean cut her off. “Jo! Stop, oh my god.” He muttered, but Cas’s smile did not falter. 

“Fine, fine!” Jo brushed him off, but she smirked at Castiel. “Sorry you got stuck with this grump.” Dean sent her a death glare, and she grinned.

“I’ll just get you guys some water.” She went off and Dean bit his lip. “She’s always like this.” Dean mumbled, trying to get over this embarrassment. “That’s okay. She’s quite delightful, actually.”

Dean’s eyes lit up. “I’m glad you-” 

Dean was cut off by an excited squeal that they both immediately recognized. “Daddy Ellen gave me a spatula!” He shrieked, running over and jumping up into Dean’s lap. Dean clenched his jaw, leaning over and picking him up. 

“Wow Sammy, that’s a cool spatula. Maybe you should go give it back to Ellen?” Dean suggested, but Sammy made a defeated noise. “I wanna stay out here with you.” He whined, and Dean flinched a little bit.

“Who’s that?” Sammy pointed at Cas, and Dean sighed. He just had to get it over with. 

“This is Castiel, one of my friends. Can you say hi?” Sam shyly put his head into Dean’s shoulder, waving over to Cas.

“This is Sam.” Dean took the chance to introduce Sam. Castiel smiled and gave a small wave.

“It’s very nice to meet you, Sam.” Castiel spoke softly and Sam giggled into Dean’s shoulder. Dean picked him up and placed him back on the ground. “Go give the spatula back. Ellen can’t cook without it!” Dean gestured back to the kitchen and he was actually surprised when he ran off.

“I tried very hard to not have this happen. He must have snuck out of the kitchen.” Dean nervously laughed, pressing his thumb into the palm of his other hand. Castiel leaned forward and grabbed Dean’s hand, making him stop his nervous tick.

“Don’t be nervous.” Castiel squeezed his hand, and Dean’s heart fluttered. “O-okay.” Dean stuttered out, a red blush climbing his cheeks. 

“I could see myself eating here in the future.” Cas examined the menu, and then looked up at Dean. Dean could feel the warmth from Cas’s hand.

“Why?” Dean asked curiously, wondering if it was the food or the atmosphere, or maybe even both.

“Because if you look that cute in your uniform every time you work, I definitely wouldn’t mind being here.” Dean couldn’t help but laugh, not only trying to keep the butterflies away but also trying to stop himself from blushing.

“It’s kinda hard to look cute when you’re running around taking orders.” Castiel shook his head, chuckling a little bit.

Dinner continued like this. They talked and got food and Sam only interrupted one more time to show Dean that he spilled juice on his shirt. They laughed and Castiel talked about his brothers and his childhood, and it was overall a very pleasant evening. Dean could see himself doing this for the rest of his life.

Ellen popped her head out of the kitchen towards the end, trying to get a good look at Castiel.

“Ellen!” Dean yelled, and she smiled and walked towards them. “This is Castiel.” Dean introduced, and Ellen stopped in her tracks. Something about the man sitting across from Dean made her mind stop.

“Castiel…?” Ellen asked, and they both nodded. “Very nice to meet you.” Cas smiled, but Ellen’s face stayed serious.

“Do you have any brothers?” Ellen asked, out of the blue, and Dean was somewhat taken aback. He’d never seen Ellen act like this before. Cas nodded, a bit confused about why she would ask a question like that.

“Do you have a brother named Lucifer?” Ellen asked, and Dean was kind of creeped out because he knew that Cas did have a brother named Lucifer. Cas nodded again, confusedly tilting his head to the side.

“Whatever Lucifer did, I was not a part of. My brother and I don’t quite get along.” Castiel almost wanted to deny even being brothers with Lucifer. Dean was the confused one now because he saw nothing about that in Cas’s memories. That seemed to put Ellen more at ease. 

“Yeah, Lucifer’s done some weird things. Been coming up a lot recently in our research.” She shot Dean a look, and Dean scrunched his eyebrows together. He wasn’t quite sure he knew what she was getting at, but he knew it had to be part of a hunt. 

“I would be happy to assist you-” She cut Castiel off. “No, no, it’s nothing like that. We just know he has three brothers, one named Castiel. I was just wondering if that was you.” Whatever Ellen was going through before seemed like it was over now, but it still struck Dean as odd.

“It was nice meeting you, Castiel. Next time I’ll be up for more conversation.” Ellen went back into the kitchen, leaving Dean there alone with Cas.

“What’s wrong with Lucifer?” Cas was dreading this question, and he wasn’t quite sure how to answer it.

“Well, he’s just been doing some pretty weird stuff recently. I’m not even really sure what he’s been up to, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it were bad. I’m sorry that Ellen knew him before she got to know me.” Cas was pretty straight to the point, with only one lie in there. He knew that Lucifer was consorting with demons, but that was about it. Lucifer was MIA too, so he and his brothers couldn’t even figure out what was happening.

“Oh, okay. Well I’m not one to shy away from family issues.” The laugh Dean gave made Castiel’s stomach churn, knowing full well that Dean was not a stranger to this kind of pain. He also didn’t like that Dean was joking about that, but he could get into it later.

“I know you aren’t.” Cas’s voice was cool, to the point where Dean knew that Cas did not take that joke well. Dean straightened up, but Castiel soon recovered. 

“You can tell how much Sam loves you.” Cas noted, thinking about how the little boy kept coming out to show his father things. Dean fondly nodded his head. 

“It’s been a hard couple of years for him.” Dean spoke softly, trying to find a way out of this conversation. “And for me.” He added, and Castiel took a deep breath in, trying not to think about all of the things Dean had been through.

“But things are finally looking up.” And Dean couldn’t help but think it was probably because of Cas.


	9. Chapter 9

Castiel was very frustrated that he didn’t have the opportunity to heal Dean. They finished dinner and Dean hugged him goodbye, but there were too many people around for him to subtly set his hands on his skin and allow his grace to heal him. Let alone, Dean wasn’t allowed to see either. So, he called Gabriel and Gabe gave him the idea to teleport to Dean’s apartment and do it while he was sleeping.

Cas knew that it was weird, even downright creepy and knew that it could be a violation of privacy, but Dean was very hurt. He was particularly worried about the broken rib, and he knew that Dean was in pain. He would watch him flinch whenever he sat down or turned his body the wrong way, and Cas just wanted to help him.

Although he thought it was a terrible idea and a complete infringement of all of his morals, he was going to use his grace to teleport there, heal him, and get out as quickly as possible. He probably wouldn’t have even considered the ridiculous idea, let alone actually go through with it, if Dean weren’t this seriously injured.

This was risky, because if Dean caught him they would have to have a very awkward conversation about boundaries. Cas really, really didn’t want to do that and he knew that the whole “watching you while you sleep” thing is definitely better than the whole “I’m a nephilim” thing. Cas knew that Dean would freak out, so he’d have to handle the situation very delicately.

He waited until two in the morning, a time that Gabriel ensured Castiel was perfect. Cas couldn’t stop his nerves, worried about too many things. What if Dean was awake? What if Dean woke up while he was healing him? What if he thought he was being attacked? The last thing Cas wants to do is scare Dean.

He debated using his grace to help him sleep, but knew that was a little too far. So he just prayed that Dean would be a heavy enough sleeper to not wake up while he was being healed.

Two o’clock came around quick enough, and Castiel took a deep breath, readying himself. He hadn’t teleported in awhile, not since Michael and him had gone looking for Lucifer. He clenched his jaw, closed his eyes, and he felt his feet land on the ground. He opened his eyes and recognized the room as Dean’s apartment. 

He was in the living room. Everything was quiet and dark, and Castiel could see all of the precautions against the world. There were sigils and wards and Castiel was just lucky that he didn’t put any against angels, like the angel blade. There was salt all around the corners and Castiel knew how scared he was against a surprise attack.

He saw toys on the ground, and it was very obvious that a young child lived there. Legos were spread across the entire room, and Cas could vaguely recall a memory of Dean’s that involved a lego injury. 

Cas quietly made his way towards Dean’s bedroom, pushing open the door. He could hear Dean’s soft breathing, but felt something off in the air. The atmosphere felt cool and he could feel the fear in Dean.

Cas snuck over, and looked over at Dean’s face. Without a single thought, his hand stretched out and gently rested on Dean’s forehead. He could feel the nightmares playing through him but he was extremely reluctant to look in. 

He decided to take one quick look and was horrified to find that Dean was dreaming about his father chasing him. Cas reached up and rubbed his eyes, knowing that he had to fix this.

_He delved into Dean’s mind, suddenly in the dream. There was so much chaos and Dean was so scared, but when their eyes met, everything stopped._

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_“Cas?” Dean’s voice echoed through his dream, and Cas gently smiled._

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_“It’s okay, Dean, I’m right here.” The bad things faded away and Dean was left in an empty field, sitting in the grass._

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_“Everything is fine. Take a deep breath.” Dean obeyed, and Castiel couldn’t help but feel extremely better. “I’ll always be here.” Cas’s fingers ghosted over Dean’s cheek._

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Cas pulled out of Dean’s head, shaking himself off. He had never been in somebody else’s mind before, let alone his soul mates. The whole experience itself was moving, and he felt gratified at the peaceful look on Dean’s face.

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He sat on the edge of the bed, setting a hand on Dean’s bare-skinned arm. A blue light emerged from Cas’s hand and wrapped around Dean’s body, healing every single ailment. Dean moved in his sleep, but Cas was sure it was just due to the momentarily uncomfortable sting that can be brought on by healing.

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Cas looked at Dean’s face, soaking it all in. He could count every single freckle on Dean’s face and when he finished, just start over. He wanted to reach over, to brush his thumb over Dean’s lips and feel him. 

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He sighed and went to stand up but he felt Dean stir in his sleep, so he waited another moment to not disturb him. Dean, however, did not get that memo and sat up in bed. He looked confused and Castiel froze and held his breath.

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“Castiel?” Dean asked, reaching up and rubbing his eyes. Cas decided that he should just get away as quick as possible and hope that Dean thought it was a dream. But before he could get away, Dean leaned forward and set his head on Cas’s shoulder.

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“Weird dream.” Dean mumbled, raising his hands and feeling Cas’s body under him. Castiel did not dare to move a single muscle as Dean’s fingers wrapped around his arm. Although he feared Dean’s reaction, he enjoyed the surprise contact between the two of them.

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“Yeah?” Cas whispered, grabbing the back of Dean’s head and gently guiding him back down to the pillow. Dean followed without any hesitation.

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“Do you feel better?” Cas, although he didn’t want to, made Dean as sleepy as possible so he wouldn’t remember this in the morning. Dean hummed, reaching forward and grazing Cas’s neck. 

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“Yeah.” Dean slurred, pushing his face into the pillow and going back to sleep. Cas clenched his jaw and pulled away, even though he didn’t want to. He wanted to spend the night with Dean, just watching him and holding him. Now he was really starting to sound creepy.

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“Thanks Cas.” Dean mumbled, and Cas stood up, reluctantly going on his way. 

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“Anytime I will be here for you. Goodnight, Dean. Sleep well.” Cas leaned down and pressed his lips to Dean’s forehead, and slipped out of the house with the thought of Dean sticking around for a long, long time.

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	10. Chapter 10

Dean woke up to a ringing phone, displeased with the shrill noise cutting through his sleep. He chose to forget about it and try to close his eyes, but he was too awake now. He sat up in bed, confused, when everything seemed a little bit different. He remembered a dream he had last night where Cas came and saved him from John, but everything felt so real. He could almost feel Cas under his fingertips.

He shrugged, not looking too far into it. It was way too early for him to think about things like that. Then again, he couldn’t really think anything was weird with how his life was going right now. So, he ignored it and got up to get ready for the day. 

He remembered why he had woken up an hour earlier than usual- his phone had rang. He grabbed it, seeing three missed calls from Bobby with numerous text messages.

Dean squinted, trying to make sense of it. It was six a.m. on a Tuesday morning, why would Bobby have called so many times? Worry settled in Dean’s stomach as he hurriedly typed in Bobby’s number.

Bobby answered, obviously out of it.

“Dean-” His voice was frantic, anxious. Dean’s heart stopped. “I need you to come to the motel. As soon as possible. I’ve been up all night, and I just found this huge connection between the demons and some weird guy named Lucifer and it’s all very big-”

“Lucifer…?” Dean asked reluctantly, really hoping that he heard it wrong.

“Yes, Lucifer. C’mon boy you gotta come over right now.” Dean sighed, but essentially decided that he was going to go over and check on Bobby.

“Okay. I’ll be there in like an hour, because I have to drop Sam off at school. Whatever you’re involved in, I don’t want him anywhere near that.” Dean exhaled, but Bobby didn’t really care.

“Whatever, Dean! Just get here!” 

The phone went dead and Dean was left standing there, puzzled and more than bothered. Lucifer was not a common name, and Ellen had already mentioned it. It had to be Cas’s brother, so why does his name keep coming up?

Dean shook his head, going to grab his close to get dressed. He knew he had a long day ahead of him.

 

 

Dean shut the door to his car, taking a step towards the familiar seedy hotel. When they would get kicked out of the house, Dean would take Sammy there so they would have a safe place for the night.

Dean knocked on Bobby’s door, warily playing with the ends of his sleeves. Something about Bobby’s voice seemed like this was too big for them to deal with alone, and if they got other hunters involved, John would probably have to be there too. Dean really did not want to see John anytime soon.

The door swung open and Bobby stood there, red, bloodshot eyes, with dark bags underneath.

“Shit man, you look terrible.” Dean made a face and Bobby’s hand came up and flipped him off. 

“I stumbled across something. Something big. Come in.” Dean walked in and saw at least twenty devil’s traps, every kind of sigil he knew plus some extra, and salt all around the room. Dean was a little freaked out because Bobby didn’t normally go to this extreme.

On the farthest side of the wall, it was covered in pictures and newspaper clippings, with yarn tied all around. It looked like chaos. Dean was watchful of every single move Bobby made, somewhat suspicious. He had never seen Bobby act like this before, but maybe he was just tired. Or he really had come across something that needed to be taken care of right away.

“How did you figure this much out? I just saw you like five days ago and none of this stuff was here.” Dean asked, but Bobby simply shook his head. He pointed to a picture on the wall of a dark haired man. Dean, although in Cas’s memories he had only seen Lucifer as a young kid, could see how it could be Cas’s brother. Dean grimaced.

“This is Lucifer. I think he’s building an army of demons.” Dean diverted his attention over to the wall. Underneath the picture of Lucifer was a picture of Crowley, the demon who Dean had met the other night. It seemed so long ago.

“This is Crowley. His second hand man, but I think he’s trying to betray him because he gave you that blade.” Dean was confused as Bobby frantically turned to him. “You still have that blade, right?!”

Dean nodded, pulling back. Bobby took the hint that he was acting a little erratically and took a breath.

“Are you okay?” Dean asked, going to the kitchen. Dean could hear Bobby sigh from far away and sit down on the bed. Dean went back out with a piece of bread and a cup of cold water.

“I’m fine. Just… lonely, and bored. Got into all this stuff and I haven’t slept in a couple days, and-” Dean cut him off by putting both hands on his shoulder. 

“You have to sleep, Bobby, you can’t do this to yourself.” Bobby gave him a forlorn look, and Dean just gave him a sad smile. 

“I’m going to go to school, and you go to sleep. Sammy and I will stop here on the way home to pick you up for some dinner. Then we can talk about all of this Lucifer business. Does that sounds okay?” Bobby appreciated Dean to the moon and back.

“Okay. I’ll see you later.”

 

 

Dean made it to school only two periods late. He had, however, missed Castiel’s class and he was worried that Cas had noticed. Dean got out of his door and slung his backpack onto his shoulder when it suddenly hit him like a ton of bricks: he didn’t hurt. At all. Literally nothing hurt on his body.

He felt around his chest, pressed down where he knew hurt the most, and no pain came of it. He lifted his shirt up and found the bruises totally cleared up. He went to his forearms and saw that the cuts there had healed as well. How had he not noticed that in the morning?

Dean’s jaw clenched. Things like this don’t just happen, especially to people like him. Maybe if he was normal, he would call it a miracle, and go on with his day, but he couldn’t do that. He knew he had really hurt his chest and last night before he went to bed he clearly remembered the sharp, lingering pain. 

Thinking about that was difficult, though, so he put it on the back burner. He could worry when he got home. Maybe touch up his sigils, add a couple, put more salt around the door, whatever. And, a lot of worse things could have happened when he was sleeping. He just didn’t know what type of creature could spontaneously heal someone. At least he wasn’t killed in the middle of the night.

He snuck into school, ignoring the glaring secretary. He always got that glare when he was late so he was used to it by now. He went off to his third period class, hoping not to get called out or noticed. It was obvious that wasn’t going to happen when he met eyes with Castiel, who was walking down the hallway. 

Dean really considered just turning the other way and pretending that he didn’t see him, but it was too late for that. Castiel gave him a soft smile, but there was a crease in his eyebrows that Dean could identify as worry.

“Dean,” Castiel greeted, and Dean shyly smiled towards the ground.

“I missed class.” Dean stated as a fact, but felt that he couldn’t only say that. “My, uh… uncle needed me to do something for him and he kinda needed it this morning. I’m sorry.” 

Cas couldn’t help but find Dean’s words endearing, but he wondered if that was truly what Dean was doing. He knew that Dean was notorious for covering up the truth, and for doing ridiculously dangerous things all the time. Maybe he was out on a hunt, but he was still healed. Cas hoped that he hadn’t really noticed.

“It’s alright. I was just worried that something had happened.” Cas confided, and Dean laughed, brushing a hand through his hair.

“Next time I’ll text you so you won’t worry.” Dean looked up through his eyelashes to look at Cas’s eyes, and Cas looked down at him fondly.

“That would be nice. Also, you missed an amazing class. I talked about Othello the whole time.” Dean chuckled and rolled his eyes. 

“I’m sure of it. Anything concerning Othello is definitely a weakness of mine.” Dean looked down at his watch and cursed the whole concept of time. He would much rather just stay and talk to Cas.

“I have to run to class. I’ll see you later!” Dean took off, leaving Cas watching after him. Although Cas wanted to ask him to do something tonight, he had something more pressing on his hands that he had to get taken care of with Michael.


	11. Chapter 11

School went by without any more incidences. No shady demons, no soul mate interruptions, no calls from Bobby, no calls from Sammy’s school, and a nice calm lunch with his friends. Dean was feeling good. He had a lot of things lined up in his life right now and everything seemed to be playing out in a way that was actually going to work out.

So when Ellen called him at the end of the day to say that they had found something bigger than anything they’d ever seen, it only seemed normal. It was about time something went wrong. So he told her that he was on his way to pick up Bobby and he would be right over. The only thing that was left lingering was where could he keep Sam.

“Charlie,” Dean caught up with her in the parking lot and she turned around. “What’s up?” She asked, nonchalantly reaching into her backpack and grabbing an apple. 

“Could you watch Sam tonight? Please? Ellen put me on shift.” Dean pleaded and when he saw Charlie smile, he knew that he was in the clear. 

“Of course I can! Want me to pick him up from daycare?” She bit into the apple, and Dean nodded enthusiastically. He reached forward and grabbed her into a hug, and she had to laugh. She hugged him tighter, taking in the moment. She had never been with Dean when he was this happy and carefree. She couldn’t even recall a time that Dean had willingly hugged her.

“Finding your soulmate has made you a lot happier, you know that? At least you won’t be grumpy anymore.” A blush rose from his neck and settled onto his cheeks and he frowned playfully at her.

“Sure. Whatever you say. Thank you so so much!” He turned around and ran off to his car.

“You owe me one, Dean-y!” She called after him, and he laughed. 

“Don’t I always owe you one?!” He could vaguely hear Charlie’s cackled from his car. 

 

 

When Dean and Bobby walked into the room they were met with Ellen, Jo, and Garth crowded around one laptop. The look on their faces told him that absolutely nothing good was going to come from this night. He wouldn’t be surprised if he were covered in bruises and cuts tomorrow morning.

“What’s goin’ on?” Bobby asked, and Ellen set her head in her hand.

“This is getting way too far out of hand. We’re in over our heads.” Dean’s heart sunk as he saw the defeated looks on everyone’s face. He and Bobby made their ways over to the table and were met with a map of Kansas that was covered in red dots, with two or three blue dots sprinkled across. Dean waited for an explanation.

“These are all demonic possessions. The blue are the people we saved. The red dots are the people who were possessed and have gone missing.” Dean’s eyes widened, and Garth put a hand on his shoulder.

“Three. We’ve saved three people. All the others, at least fifty of them, are missing. We don’t know where they’re going or what they’re doing. We’ve investigated, we smelled the sulfur, we saw all the signs, but nothing about the person. We haven’t been able to track any single one of them.” Ellen fret, and Jo consoled her mother, who was visibly upset. 

“It’s happening every night,” Jo added in. “Someone else goes missing. We can’t find any links at all. Just random people, randomly getting possessed.” Dean took it all in, knowing that something was going to happen, but ready for it.

“What can we do?” Dean asked, gesturing to Bobby and himself. Ellen looked over at Jo. 

“There’ve been some electrical disturbances about twenty minutes away. We’re thinking about going just to see what happens. Just a recon mission. Hopefully we’ll catch one and be able to interrogate it.” Ellen was so practical and Dean admired her so much.

Dean and Bobby nodded, at the will of Ellen.

“Go get ready, boys.”

 

The car was silent except for the classic rock station. Dean was huddled in the back seat, blanket wrapped around him, protecting him from the cool night air. Bobby was next to him, tapping his finger on his leg to the song. Garth was on the other side, while Jo and Ellen had the front seats. He had never been more comfortable, and the only thing that might have made it better was Castiel. He couldn’t bring Castiel into this part of his life, though. Not yet at least.

Dean placed his head on the window, watching the night go by. There were no clouds in the sky and Dean could watch the stars, which brought him some peace. He was with his people, too. Not his soulmate, whom he had strong feelings for but was always nervous around, or his brother, whom he loved dearly but was very high maintenance. He was just with normal(ish) friends. And they were hopefully going to do some amazing things like saving people tonight. That was Dean’s favorite part of the job.

As Dean watched out the window, he noticed the street lights started flickering. He thought that maybe he was just imagining it, maybe tired, but the more he watched, the more he could see them.

“Hey, guys…” Dean trailed off, pointing up at the lights. Ellen pulled over, and they all got out of the car. Dean grabbed the holy water in the flask in his pocket and gripped it hard. The night really was cold, colder than usual for Lawrence in October. It all felt… weird too. Everything felt weird.

A bright light at the top of the hill got their attentions very quickly. It became so bright that they could no longer look at that. They all shielded their eyes, walking carefully towards the light. A shrill noise accompanied the light. 

“What is that?!” Dean shouted, grabbing the back of Bobby’s shirt. Bobby reached his hand back and grabbed Dean’s, ensuring his safety. The light and sound died down and they could finally see that it came from a house on the side of the road about half a mile down the road. 

“Come on.” Jo drove them to move quickly and they followed close behind. All of them had never seen anything like that before. They all knew that demons were dark, and that nothing made that kind of light. The closer they got, the worse Dean began to feel about everything. Dean started to lag behind.

“Do you guys feel that?” Dean felt sick. His stomach churned and he could feel a nagging on the back of his head.

“Feel what?” Bobby asked, and Dean grabbed his stomach and kneeled to the ground. Pain swirled around his body and blackness started to invade his vision. Everyone turned back towards him.

“I…” His head spun and he was suddenly on the ground, everyone surrounding him. “Dean!” He heard over and over again, but the voice was too far away for him to even understand it. 

Dean threw up beside himself, and then he began to feel a little better. Bobby propped him up, making sure he was sitting up and that he wouldn’t choke. Jo had run to the car and grabbed him a water bottle, and they got him back up on his feet.

Jo was washing his face off, Bobby was making sure he was staying up, and Garth put his hand on Dean’s shoulder. Ellen watched around to make sure that nothing was going to attack.

“I’m okay.” Dean nodded, swishing his mouth out to get rid of the taste of his sickness. They felt Dean’s head, probing to see if he was running a fever or felt flush. Once he checked out and everything seemed okay, they decided to move on. 

They still made sure he was okay. 

“How do you feel?” Ellen asked as they approached the house and Dean shrugged. “I’m not sure. I just don’t know how I went downhill so fast and then get back up and be fine. I really feel okay now. Maybe I just needed to get sick.” Dean tried to get through it, but he still felt off. He played it off as nerves.

They made it to the door and they all pulled out their guns, except for Dean. Dean had his knife, carved with sigils in one hand and his flask of holy water in the other hand. He sure hoped that it was demons behind that door.

“You ready?” Ellen whispered, and everyone gave their signals. Jo kicked the door open and Ellen and Bobby went first with all of the others following. Inside, the room was completely dark and they couldn’t see anything. Garth got his lighter out, lighting it so they could see. 

Dean squinted his eyes, trying to see. The room seemed empty, and they all lowered their weapons. That didn’t mean they lowered their guards, though.

There was a crash from upstairs, and they all looked at each other. They lifted their arms again, all pushing up the stairs. The house was eerily quiet, and absolutely abandoned. There hadn’t been people in this house for years. It felt dark, too. He could feel all of it. 

Dean saw light from underneath the door and he hissed at his partners, and they all turned back. Dean kicked the bottom of the door, lifting his own gun and getting ready to shoot. The door swung open, smashing into the back of the door, and left Dean looking at something that shocked him.

In front of him was Castiel, Michael, and a very disgruntled looking Lucifer. Castiel looked like a deer in headlights while Michael made it very obvious that Dean was interrupting something. Lucifer, with wild eyes, grinned at Dean. 

_‘Shit.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just a STEM major who writes her frustrations out i know this may not be perfect but thank you guys so much for all your support!!! much love


	12. Chapter 12

Panic flew into every single part of Dean’s body as Ellen and Jo came up behind him. Ellen looked at the three men and knew that she was right all along. Jo grabbed the holy water and flung it at all three of them, but when all three were unaffected Dean took a step back. The rest of his group ran in behind them, and an awkward silence settled in the air. 

“Cas?!” It was more of a demand, and not a question. Cas looked over at his brothers to make sure none of them were going to try something. He looked back over at Dean and sent him a look that practically screamed ‘get out of here’. He desperately wanted to go to Dean, to grab him and to get him as far away from here as he possibly could, but he could not leave this. This was too dire.

Dean seemed to get the hint: he knew something bigger was at play. He knew that they shouldn’t be there. 

“Dean, so nice to finally meet you.” Lucifer smirked, and Dean’s face contorted in a confused, scared sort of way. The rest of the group stood behind him, unsure of what to do. Castiel stepped in between Lucifer and Dean, enraged that Lucifer even had the audacity to look at Dean.

“He has nothing to do with this. You stay as far away from him as you can.” Cas growled, and Dean put his arms out and ushered everyone else out of the room.

“We need to leave.” Dean practically ordered, pushing everybody out the door and down the stairs. “We are not supposed to be here.” They all ran towards the front of the house when black smoke burst through the door and started to surround the room. 

“Demons!” Ellen shouted, ducking down to the ground. Dean was shoved to the ground, not sure if it was from Bobby or a demon, but he hit it pretty hard. He groaned and tried to crawl out to the door, but there were too many of them.

Dean managed to grab the holy water out of his pocket and keep it close. He splashed his own face, hoping to keep himself from being possessed. The demons seemed to not want them, though. They barely even cared about the humans. Dean watched as a constant stream of blackness found its way upstairs. 

The same bright light from before lit up the upstairs and Dean was struck with the same illness he had felt before, perhaps more intense. It debilitated him.

The whole world spun around him and the only thing he could really see was everybody getting out of the house. He tried to get up and follow him, but he just couldn’t will his legs to actually work. His body was not responding to anything his brain tried to tell it.

Bobby looked for him, but eventually knew he just had to get out so he could get weapons more suited to fight it. Ellen and Jo searched but he could not use his voice to help them. He could not move, either. He was hit by wave after wave of nausea and everything was so overwhelming he couldn’t tell if he needed to throw up or not. 

The light steadily got brighter and the noise increased until it was almost unbearable and Dean was not sure whether he was crying or screaming, but he could feel it in his throat. Dean shut his eyes as tight as he possibly could, covering his ears. He could feel the tears on his cheeks, and he just wished that he would pass out so he didn’t have to deal with it anymore.

A mind-splitting ache worked it’s way into the back of Dean’s head, starting at the base of his neck and wrapping all the way up to his temples. Dean assumed it was the combination of the light and the noise that made this happen. He tried to move, tried to do anything, but he couldn’t. 

“DEAN!” Dean abruptly heard a voice from above him, and he was being picked up. He clung to whomever -or whatever- was picking him up as tight as he could, not opening his eyes. His fingers grabbed his savior’s clothes and balled it up, trying to distract from the pain. Everything on his body hurt. 

He was being carried out of the house, and into the cool night air where there wasn’t a piercing roar in his ears or a blazing light. Dean faded in and out, but he thought he heard people’s voices. He couldn’t understand what they were saying or even register the words, until-

“Shh, Dean, it’s okay.” Dean could hear a soft voice soothe him, and Dean knew that voice. He just couldn’t connect the dots. He was weeping, he could feel that now. His chest was wracked with painful sobs that shook him to his very core. 

Dean started to come to after a couple minutes of reassuring words and a gentle hand rubbing his back. He was wrapped up around someone, but was too dazed to figure out who. He didn’t think he could open his eyes yet, either. He was comfortable, though, and Dean learned a while ago that he can trust his gut instinct. So he reached his arms up and wrapped them around their neck.

He felt a sharp intake of breath from the person, and then they slowly let the air out.

“Dean,” The gravelly voice that Dean began to recognize spoke. “May I sit down?” Dean nodded, and Dean was lowered to the ground. In the back of Dean’s mind he was thinking about where Bobby and Ellen and the rest of the crew was, but he couldn’t answer that question. All he knew is that he was not with one of them.

If Dean had been feeling better he would have taken the fact that he was sitting on someone’s lap right now a lot different. The more he thought about it, the more he could feel. His head was resting on a shoulder, his arms clasped around a neck, and legs wrapped around a torso. He was surprised that he did not feel any awkwardness.

Dean soon felt good enough to lift his head and open his eyes but he was met with nothing but total blackness. He took one hand and rubbed them, hoping to see anything, but nothing came of it.

“I can’t see.” Dean mumbled, and there was a light touch on his forehead. Suddenly his vision was back and he could see a concerned Castiel sitting in front of him. Dean blinked his eyes again, trying to get everything focused. Deep down he knew it was Castiel but it was nice to have the guarantee.

“How are you feeling?” Cas eyed Dean, but Dean simply shook his head.

“I took a big hit back there. I don’t even know what happened.” Dean nodded, closing his eyes tight. He was thankful the headache had faded away with the poor vision. He thought about trying to get up for a second but decided it would be better if he stayed down on the ground, with Cas. Cas knew exactly what was ailing him, a particularly bad case of smiting sickness. Cas was unsure of why Dean had gotten it so badly, though.

“Where are-” Cas cut him off before he could even ask.

“They are safe. They found safety while you fell unconscious. I got you out the house and they met up with us out there. I told them that I would take care of you and they shouldn’t worry.” Dean knew he should be asking more questions but he didn’t have the mental capacity right now.

“You don’t remember that?” Dean shook his head and turned to look back at the house. Cas worriedly examined Dean’s face, looking for any lacerations. Dean just looked at Cas, noticing how his face was so distressed.

As Dean’s head started to finally clear up, he realized that Cas was here, on a hunt, around demons. Then he started to become suspicious. What were him and his brothers doing here? Why were they in the house?

“What are you doing here?” Dean pulled back, moving his legs to stand up. He was so shaky though that he couldn’t support his weight. He fell forward, back onto Cas, and Cas caught him.

“Dean,” Cas cooed, holding him close. “I don’t think you can stand up yet. Would you like me to help you move?” 

Everything clicked in Dean’s mind and he knew that he should be scared. He scrambled off of Cas’s lap, landing hard on the ground. Cas reached forward to help him, but Dean pushed his hands back.

“What were you doing in that house?!” Dean raised his voice, but he couldn’t hide the fear. Cas frowned, standing up and towering over Dean. Dean just rushed in the opposite direction, until his back pressed up against a tree.

“Dean, don’t be scared. Please. It would kill me.” Dean’s heart was beating out of his chest. Cas took a cautious step towards Dean, but when he saw Dean’s face he stopped immediately. That’s when a crashing noise from the house caught their attention, and they both turned towards it.

A puff of smoke, filled with a bright blue light escaped the house and shot away. They both watched, mesmerized.

“That’s not a demon, is it?” Dean asked, watching as it disappeared into the night. Cas shook his head, knowing that was Lucifer escaping. He cursed internally, knowing that Michael was going to come out any minute and be upset with their failure. Cas had to get Dean out of there, though.

“What is it?” Dean turned to Cas, knowing that he had the answer. Cas made his way over and sat next to Dean. He put his head into his hands and Dean felt bad. Cas was obviously upset, but Dean was too scared to reach over and grip his hand, so he stayed pressed against the tree, heart beating wildly in his chest.

Cas looked over at Dean and smiled sadly. Dean widened his eyes and gestured his hands, urging him to talk. Cas took a deep breath.

“My brothers and I are not human.”


	13. Chapter 13

“Then what are you?” Dean asked cautiously, gritting his teeth. Dean took a hot second to categorize everything in his mind. When the boxes soul mate and non-human crossed in his mind he got the sudden urge to scream as loud as he possibly could. He must have been a really shitty person in his past life to deserve something like this.

Cas closed his eyes for a second, not sure how to phrase everything. He really did not want to scare Dean away but one he knew Dean deserved an explanation, and two, he had to tell him sometime. It was bound to come up, and maybe Cas should just be grateful they can get it out of the way now.

“My mom is a human. My father is…” Cas trailed off, trying to put things more delicately. He wasn’t gonna get there, though. “Well, he’s an angel. They gave birth to four kids, and we’re all nephilims.” 

Dean paused, feeling the confusion go through his body. A week ago he would have said there aren’t angels, and now his soul mate is telling him that he’s the offspring of one? Why would Cas lie to him about this though? There would be no reason for him to lie. Also, a lot of weird things had been happening recently, things Dean had never seen. Things that all felt a little bigger than what he was used to. 

“I… don’t think I…” Dean trailed off, totally speechless. He had no idea what to say. His mind was quiet, too. He just didn’t know what to think or say and Cas was sitting there watching him with such blue, concerned eyes.

“I know you don’t think angels exist. I know it’s above what you’ve ever dealt with. But if demons exist, why wouldn’t angels? I know you’ve never seen a light like that before, because you’ve never been exposed to them. Now you are.” Cas hesitated for a second, wondering if he should continue. “You were so sick because you had smiting sickness. I’m… not sure why your other friends didn’t get it and why you were so blindly affected, but I think it has something to do with your affiliation to me.” Cas didn’t quite know when to stop. 

Dean was getting too much information. He was confused and scared and just overwhelmed.

“What does all of this mean? I just... are you from heaven? Do you have powers? Do you ever die? Or get sick? I don’t understand-” Cas cut Dean off.

“I am not from Heaven. I was born on Earth. I do have powers. We live longer than normal humans, but we can also get sick. It’s not that likely though because we could just heal ourselves.” Cas just had to be honest and get straight to the point.

“What are your other powers?” Dean almost didn’t want to know. Cas told him, though.

“I can teleport, speak any language, empathy, sense injuries, heal others, sometimes read minds-” Dean processed what he said and immediately jerked to a stop. 

“Cas, did you heal me? Like, a couple nights ago or whatever. I woke up and everything that hurt the night before didn’t hurt anymore.” Dean tried not to make it sound like an accusation, but that’s really what it sounded like. Cas tried to find a way to fix it all. 

“I…” Cas trailed off but he decided that he was just gonna tell nothing but the truth. He thought for a second that maybe he should lie, but he just couldn’t bare to lose Dean’s trust if he ever found out. “I did. You were just so hurt, and I couldn’t bare to feel it anymore! Dean you had so many broken ribs and cuts and bruises on your bones, I had to do something! Thinking about you in pain is bad, but imagine being able to _feel_ your soul mate's pain. That's what I had to do and I just couldn't do it anymore. ” 

Dean sighed, rubbing his eyes. How could he have not seen this? Things in his life started getting better and easier after Cas came in, and it wasn’t even because he was his soul mate. He didn’t know whether to be thankful or mad or upset or what. Cas eagerly awaited his reaction.

“I don’t know what to say. How can we even be soulmates if we aren’t even the same species? That makes no sense to me. It’s like some cosmic joke that you’ll live longer than me and I’ll probably die young due to some stupid hunting accident and how could you, a literal angel, be paired with me? I have a son and so much fucking baggage that I can barely even do anything for myself, let alone some I’m supposed to be a partner with!” Dean was getting visibly upset now and Cas’s heart physically ached.

“Dean I don’t ever want you to think about yourself like that. Ever. We were paired together because our souls were made for each other, not some ‘cosmic joke’” Cas actually did the quotation marks, and he’d be damned if he didn’t see a small smile perk around Dean’s cheeks. He continued.

“I know you have baggage. I’m not stupid. I saw your memories, I lived parts of your life that I never hope to see again. But I’m here for you, that’s exactly what this means. I’m here to be with you and to carry your baggage and fight your demons with you. That’s why I was put on this Earth, to be with you. I won’t ever let you think like that again. And the mere thought of you dying early on some _stupid_ hunt makes me feel physically ill. I would never let you get hurt, let alone killed.” Cas could feel himself going on and on and on but he didn’t think Dean minded. Maybe Dean even liked this positive attention for a change.

Dean’s throat definitely had a lump and as he tried to swallow it, some tears pooled in his eyes but he quickly pushed them away. Cas had said such amazing things about him, things that he’d never been told, things that he’d never felt about himself. And for one second he let himself think about their future. A house, Sammy with two parents, a dog, maybe a cat to snuggle around, doing a hunt here and there. And it felt better than anything he’d ever felt.

After that brief second though he was brought back down to Earth with the thought of Lucifer.

“What’s wrong with Lucifer?” Dean asked, and he could see Cas physically tensed.

“We should get you someplace warmer first before we get into all of that. That’s gonna take awhile.”


	14. Chapter 14

Cas and Dean drove in silence. Dean, not knowing what to say, sat uncomfortably in the passenger seat and thought long and hard about his life. Cas sat next to him, worried that Dean was going to get a little lost in his own head.

Dean played with his fingers, nervously counting the numbers of bumps they went past. He couldn’t even really think of anything else other than the fact that his soulmate, someone whose whole life he was supposed to see, was not really a human and had been hiding it the whole time they knew each other.

Granted, it had only been about a week and a half since they had actually found out they were soulmates, but it almost felt like a lot longer. Dean knew that feeling betrayed was a little too much, but he couldn’t help feeling it.

Dean suddenly remembered that Sam was at Charlie’s house, and it was becoming increasingly late. He shifted in his seat, knowing that his phone was back at the diner and he couldn’t even call Charlie to tell her that he would be there soon to pick him up.

“You okay?” Cas asked, noticing Dean’s sudden change in demeanor. Dean cleared his throat and looked over at him.

“I… need to pick up Sam’s at Charlie’s. It’s a little too late right now and I already feel bad…” Dean trailed off, unsure of what he even wanted in this situation. He wanted to stay with Cas, and talk about everything that just happened, but he had an obligation to get Sam. 

“We’ll go pick him up.” Cas suggested, and Dean took in a deep breath.

“We’ll have to go back to my house.” Dean sighed, really not knowing what to say or do. He felt so off and out of it, he kinda just wanted to take a break from the world and not think about anything for a little bit.

“We don’t have to. I have an extra room at my place, and it’s closer, so you guys could just sleep there. I can drive you back there in the morning.” Cas seemed like he had it all figured out. Dean couldn’t really find it in his heart to argue or come up with any other suggestions, so he just nodded.

 

They picked Sam up at Charlie’s at around eleven p.m., and got to Cas’s about ten minutes later. Sam had fallen asleep at Charlie’s so Dean carried him to the car and then carried him into Cas’s house. It was just as Dean had seen in Cas’s memories. It was a fair size, all modern and painted white. 

Cas showed Dean the guest room, where he set Sam down and tucked him in. He was fast asleep and barely even noticed that he was in a different home with different people. Dean gave him a kiss on the forehead, took a deep breath, got his priorities straight with Sam and his safety directly at the top, and then he headed back to where Cas was.

Cas was sitting in the kitchen, sitting at the counter. Dean rubbed his eyes and made his way over to Cas.

Cas stood up immediately, looking a little apprehensive and concerned. 

“Dean, I understand that you’re taking in a lot of information right now, but if you have any questions or anything I just want to be here to support you-” 

Dean cut him off.

“I think I would like to go to sleep right now or relax for a little bit. All my questions can be answered in the morning or later. Just… right now, I think I just want to pretend everything is normal and that nothing weird is happening.” 

Cas nodded, biting his bottom lip uneasily. 

“I-I uh… there’s a couch, or… um, my bed… I can sleep on the couch.” Cas went through everything in his mind, and it was Dean’s turn to bite his lip.

“We can both lay in your bed. Maybe… talk, or watch a movie.” Dean shyly recommended and Cas’s eyes lit up like the fourth of July. 

“That sounds like an excellent idea. We can talk about everything tomorrow.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> be patient my dudes i am so sorry i don't update too much


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